Fields of Hope
by Frog-kun
Summary: Set before episode 21. What at first seems to be a harsh prank turns out to be real: someone seeks Princess Euphemia's life. Suzaku needs Lelouch's wits to overcome this new threat. But is Lelouch willing to aid Britannian royalty?
1. Stage 01

**Author's note: **Just to clarify: This fic is set between episodes 20 and 21 of season 1 and can be read as a "filler" arc of sorts. As for the title, it was inspired by a song sung by Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed Destiny. And as anyone who has seen that series would know, the similarities between Euphie and Lacus are astounding. Also, watch for the Macross reference. It's coming up~

**Stage 01 Unfolding Predicament**

"Kyuun! Kyuun!"

Suzaku tried very hard not to stare blankly.

"Kyuun! Kyuun!"

He was failing miserably.

The strange noises appearing to come from the girl's mouth continued. "My boyfriend is a pilot!" A light giggle, a toss of her vivid pink hair – and then Euphie finished her exaggerated twirl on the spot. She opened her mouth to sing the next line until she noticed Suzaku's expression. She faltered.

"Er... Suzaku? Is something wrong?"

Suzaku immediately began to sweat harder than he could ever remember having done in any given battle. Even Narita couldn't compare to this! "No, nothing at all! Princess-!"

"I get it," Third Princess Euphemia Li Britannia declared tearfully. "It's my voice, isn't it? My big sister always giggled frightfully when I sang! I always suspected she was mocking me!"

Suzaku blinked.

"That _is _it, isn't it? That's why you're staring at me!"

"No, no!" Suzaku insisted vehemently. _Quick, think of a good lie_. "I was staring because I thought you looked really pretty today and I thought, I guess, I mean...!" He gulped.

Awkward silence, during which time Euphie looked over her long, white gown. She personally didn't see any difference in her appearance from normal.

Oh well. It was still a very good response from her knight. Suddenly feeling a bit shy, she looked up and gave him a discreet smile of approval. Suzaku gulped again and smiled back. Their eyes met.

Both of them looked away at the same time.

"I thought it was a good song I sung," Euphie said cheerfully. "I mean, it's appropriate for us!" She did another twirl on the spot. Then she looked at Suzaku again. "It is, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah." Suzaku Kururugi was the pilot of the Lancelot and he was also Princess Euphemia's knight and -

"_I command you to love me!"_

… Yeah.

It made him a bit giddy to think about the actual event so he considered the implications instead. With Euphemia supporting him, then maybe it really _was _possible to change Britannia from the inside. And right now, he actually felt himself wanting to support Britannia from the bottom of his heart. Sometimes, when he was with Euphie, he actually found himself forgetting about his father for brief stretches of time, even with that constant reminder that he had on him. It was... strange, but he'd never felt so lighthearted since the time he'd first made friends with Lelouch. That was seven years ago.

"... Suzaku?"

He jumped lightly and was slightly mortified that he'd allowed his mind to drift mid-conversation. "Yes, Princess?"

"How's school?" Euphie asked him. "I like hearing your stories."

"Oh!" Suzaku laughed. "Well, you see, my friends – the nice people on the student council – asked me to help out for the annual school festival, so that's why I've been staying back at school lately. That and..." He laughed again, a bit sheepishly this time. "I haven't been keeping up with the homework."

Euphie puffed out her cheeks and glared. "That's not good! You have to work hard and be a good student! Show me your homework! I'll help you do it!"

Unable to disobey a direct order from the princess, Suzaku fumbled about for his school briefcase. In his off-hours, he actually did carry it around so that when he was not busy he could finish some homework. He was kind of uncertain how Euphie could help him with it, though. Oh well, an order was an order.

He opened up his briefcase and a loose slip of paper fell out and onto the ground.

_Hmmm, that's funny. I don't recall-_

Suzaku picked up the paper and looked at it. He froze.

"Suzaku? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Suzaku answered quickly. He stuffed the paper back into his briefcase. "Actually, there was something I forgot to do at school. I have to go now and whatever you do, stay in the government office!"

"Suzaku!"

But he was already gone.**

* * *

**

It was a rare occasion indeed when Kallen Stadtfield came to school. Even though she was one of the top scorers at Ashford Academy, her attendance record was significantly marred by constant bouts of illness. She was a delicate, unassuming girl who always seemed to give the impression that she needed to be taken care of.

This identity was, in truth, a total fabrication. Suzaku had come to learn that Kallen was actually a half-Japanese terrorist fighting on the side of Zero and the Black Knights. Suzaku had thought he could be friends with Kallen and convince her to change her methods and that was why he hadn't reported her to the authorities.

Now, after receiving the message, he was not so sure his decision had been a right one.

Suzaku found Kallen in the student council room reading a book. This actually wasn't too surprising because there was a somewhat lack of terrorist activities these days.

It was just the two of them in the room.

Kallen looked up – surprise flickered in her gaze. "You-"

"Kallen." Suzaku was deathly calm. "Did you write this?"

"Write what?"

"Don't play dumb." Suzaku frowned. "You're the only person here who could have slipped this note into my bag and who also happens to be a terro-"

"_Shhhhhh_!"

Suzaku fell silent. He simply watched Kallen as she put the book down and came over to him. She came so close so that she could whisper and not be heard by anyone passing by the room.

"So what? Now you're going to turn me in? I thought as much, Kururugi." And all of a sudden, Suzaku could feel the tip of something sharp against his abdomen. Kallen's purse had a switchblade hidden in it!

Suzaku scowled. He should have known given how slippery the Black Knights were.

"I don't know what you're talking about with this 'note', but if you want to settle things, there's no time like the present," Kallen whispered. Even though the volume was low, as if it had been turned right down, the strength and intensity of her voice was there. This was Kallen Kouzuki speaking, not Kallen Stadtfield.

"Kallen, you-"

The door of the room swung open. Because Suzaku had his back faced to the door, he could not see the newcomer until that person spoke.

"Suzaku! Kallen!" It was Shirley, and she was surprised as a girl could be. "Kallen, I thought it was you and Lulu who were-!"

Kallen hastily flipped the switchblade back into an innocuous purse. "Shirley! It's not what you think it is!" And then something else clicked. "And wait. Wh-What do you mean by me and _Lelouch_?"

Just as Kallen said that, the door opened once again. "Did someone say my name?"

"Lelouch!" Suzaku was pleasantly surprised to see his friend not slacking off at school for once. (Honestly, what did he spend all that time off even doing? Suzaku preferred not to think about it.) As for Kallen, she tried to look nonchalant as Lelouch entered the room. Shirley simply peered at him as if trying to work something out about him. She was always doing that these days: Suzaku had been told she and Lelouch were having a massive fight these days and she was pretending not to know him.

Lelouch no doubt noticed these mixed reactions to his appearance and took them in stride. As his gaze swept around the room, he noticed something. "Did one of you drop something? There's a note on the floor."

Suzaku must have dropped it during the scuffle with Kallen. "Oh, that's-"

But before he could finish, Shirley was already picking up the note and unfolding it. "_Traitor Suzaku Kururugi!_" she read aloud. Suzaku felt his face go pale. "_Let's see how your so-called righteous methods work when Euphemia dies the day after tomorrow!" _Shirley stared. "Is this... is this a prank?"

She was remembering the diary entry she had discovered recently. She had apparently written it, but she could not remember ever doing that at all. And the entry had said Lelouch was Zero! How could that be right...?

As she stared, trying to work this earlier mystery out in her mind, Suzaku took the note off her. _"_I think it's a prank!" he said quickly. "I just want to know who put that note in my bag."

"Hmmm." Lelouch looked at Suzaku sideways with clever, calculating eyes. It was clear to him that Suzaku was reacting to it in a way that indicated he didn't believe it was a prank. He took it very seriously... because it was Euphemia who was at stake, wasn't it?

Euphemia... the woman he had chosen over Nunally. Over Lelouch. Over their _friendship_.

"Suzaku," Lelouch spoke up. "When do you think this note could have been slipped into your belongings? This seems like a personal attack on you. It was probably done by another student."

He paused. He recalled how ever since Suzaku had enrolled at Ashford, he had faced nothing but opposition and hostility from the other students. Things had gotten a little better for him after he had joined the student council, but even _then _Suzaku had been bullied. He had just never said so to Lelouch or anyone.

"Maybe," Suzaku said, smiling. "You can help me figure it out, can't you, Lelouch?" Strong though he was, Lelouch's deductive reasoning powers were just as powerful.

"Together," Lelouch said, returning the smile, "we can accomplish anything."

Suzaku didn't know how right he was. Only the other day, at the Battle for Kyushu, the two of them really had accomplished something together. Lelouch didn't know how something could make him feel both bitter and proud until that day.

"Uh," said Kallen, "I hate to interrupt your touching moment but..." She pointed out the door where students were filing past in an orderly manner. "It's time for class."

"We'll try to work this out later, then," Lelouch said firmly.

Suzaku nodded. He had significantly cheered up since Lelouch's offer to help him. "Right!"**

* * *

**

_Meanwhile, at the government offices..._

"I didn't make Suzaku bad at schoolwork by singing to him, didn't I? Maybe my singing has that effect on people! Oh no! What if it makes Suzaku bad at piloting a Knightmare too? Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!"

Euphemia really had a complex about her singing ability.**

* * *

**

**Next chapter: **Lelouch and Suzaku try to work out who wrote the note. Also, Kallen tries to settle her score with Suzaku at decidedly inappropriate times.


	2. Stage 02

**Author's note: **I wrote _Fields of Hope _for two reasons: the first was as buildup to the Euphinator arc. The second was to cast some light on a certain unappreciated character in the series. You'll see what I mean by the end of this chapter.

I'm disappointed no one caught the Macross reference last chapter. Perhaps you'll have better luck with the Prince of Tennis reference this time. Look for it XD

**Stage 02 Unending Torment**

If there was one thing Kallen hated, it was loose ends. With stories, she was always the one who pointed out the plot holes and got irritated by them while her brother Naoto always had to come up with some sort of hasty explanation to appease her. To Kallen, the Holy Britannian Empire was a loose end. Her mother was a loose end. Naoto's dream was a loose end.

Suzaku was no different. As long as he was around and knew about Kallen's secrets, it would niggle at her mind. The possibility of discovery would be that much closer and it would make her feel vulnerable – an emotion Kallen knew of and despised.

The issue therefore needed to be settled once and for all with either Suzaku's sworn silence or his death. Of course, they were acquaintances in the student council, so this could get messy. Not to mention the incident with the note had focused his attention elsewhere. But with Kallen as an initial prime suspect, she could not rest. With Suzaku on edge like this, who knew when he'd decide to turn her in? Their score had to be settled... and soon. It was nothing personal – he would understand. They were enemies, after all.

"Suzaku," she announced when class was over, "I challenge you to a d-"

He didn't hear her. "Lelouch, I don't know how I'm meant to set this trap you're talking about."

"It's fine," Lelouch told him. "Just leave it to me."

At various other times throughout the day, Kallen tried to approach Suzaku and challenge him to a duel but things just kept getting in the way. At lunch time, they were sitting outside eating sandwiches when some giant bees came flying out of the bush. The girls surrounding her all screamed and Kallen had to pretend that she was frightened by them too. (… which she wasn't.)

Then, just when class was about to start again, she opened her mouth – but Arthur chose that moment to slink into the scene and bite Suzaku on the finger. This happened with startling regularity, so no one gave too much thought on it. Still, the moment was lost and so gym class started without anything being achieved.

Kallen sat by the wall because she was too "sick" to play any part. During this time, she noticed Lelouch cast her an envious glance, which cost him because a split second later, he got hit on the head by a tennis ball. He still had a ways to go, evidently. As for Suzaku...

He wasn't there.

Kallen noticed the teacher mark off the attendance record. "Kururugi forgot his gym clothes," the teacher was muttering to herself.

"_Hmm..."_

Kallen gingerly raised a hand and asked to the go to the toilet. Upon being given permission to leave the gym, she commenced a quick scour through the school. Where could Suzaku be? At his locker?

No. He was at the sink. He had his sleeves pulled up to his elbow and he was washing something. His gym clothes.

"Suzaku!" Kallen said to him sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, it's you, Kallen." Suzaku looked down at his hands. "I'm doing nothing."

"Nothing?" Kallen raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to wash off the permanent marker that says 'Filthy Eleven' on the back of your shirt. Unless I'm so sick and frail that my eyes deceive me."

Suzaku sighed.

"So how long has this been going on? And now you're getting threatening notes too. Maybe you should start fighting instead of being the dog kicked by Britannia."

"Kallen..."

"Oh, it won't matter to you," she said bitterly. "You think everything will be fine if you just grin and bear it. You remind me of my mother."

"What happened to your mother?" Now he was concerned, like he was a friend of hers or something.

Kallen scowled, realising just how far she'd let her guard slip. "It's nothing to do with you," she responded tersely. "Just go on... doing what you were doing."

"I do like you better like this, when you're honest."

"Shut up."

Only after Kallen was finished storming from the scene in a huff did she remember what she had forgotten to do: issue Suzaku the challenge.**

* * *

**

Love meant nothing to Lelouch, meaning that he'd failed to score even a single point in tennis. Even Nunally could probably do better than him at it. The thought made the esteemed leader of the Black Knights scowl darkly. Very darkly indeed.

His expression cleared when he noticed Suzaku at the sink, folding up some sort of clothing and stowing it away into his school briefcase. At first, Lelouch thought it was a banner or something – but on closer inspection...

"Suzaku! What have I told you about your reactions?"

They'd discussed this when they were meant to be doing work in class earlier that morning:

_Lelouch cleared his throat before pointing at Suzaku. "If you react in just the right way, we can _lure the offender to us_."_

"_Really?" Suzaku said, fascinated._

"_Think about it," said Lelouch. "A bully likes to gloat on his victim's misfortune. The person wouldn't just write the note and _not_ see how you respond."_

It made a lot of sense, although it didn't stop Suzaku from being surprised at seeing his friend come to him. "Huh? Lelouch?"

Lelouch sighed with slight irritation. "You don't just quietly put up with bullying – you whine, complain, whinge – and _let them come to you_."

"Everyone seems to be finding out about this," Suzaku muttered bitterly as he looked down at the markings he had failed to erase just now.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Suzaku stared at his gym clothes before looking up at Lelouch. "Look, I... I already know who's doing this to me."

Lelouch frowned. "Who is it, then?" And why on earth didn't Suzaku say so before?

Suzaku quietly took Lelouch aside and pointed at a student who walked past. "That guy there. I've seen him do it before."

Lelouch looked the student over: he had a wide, podgy body, a mean-looking face, a flat nose and large, ham-like fists. "What's his name?" Lelouch whispered.

"Klaus, I think," Suzaku whispered back.

"I see."

And then, for all of Lelouch's intelligence and shrewdness, he decided at that moment to do something that seemed very stupid and impulsive indeed.

He simply walked up to Klaus, waved a hand to catch his attention and called out, "You there! I demand some answers!"

"Lelouch!" Suzaku exclaimed, evidently taken aback.

Klaus turned around and faced Lelouch. "You talkin' to me? He demanded roughly. Lelouch had to wonder why he had such a delicate name as 'Klaus'. It sounded like the sort of name a pale little boy who read too many books would have.

Actually, the real question right now was whether or not Lelouch should use his Geass. There was no way he could win in a fist fight, after all. But with so many other students nearby... Also, Suzaku could get suspicious.

There was another way.

"You've been treating Suzaku unfairly, haven't you?" Lelouch tossed his jet black hair back and smirked. "No, I'd go even further than that. You've been outright _bullying _him, haven't you, Klaus?"

"_Lelouch!_" Suzaku exclaimed again, only louder and more urgently. A crowd was now gathering around them, eager to see what the fuss was about.

Klaus fell for the provocation hook, line and sinker. "So what if I have been?" he said loudly. "He's an Eleven, ain't he? And ya know what he is! A big, fat traitor! I reckon he's been schemin' with Zero all along!"

_Traitor_... Ah ha! Lelouch thought triumphantly. The note had said the same thing about Suzaku.

Here was the culprit.

"Will you stand up to your foe, Suzaku? Rise up and overcome your opposition!" Lelouch had no way of knowing that his melodramatic pointing was a rather heavy indication that his Zero theatrics were rubbing off on his model student behavior. Somewhere, C.C. was probably laughing at him.

"Lelouch, I can't!" Suzaku yelled back at him. "Fighting is against the school rules."

And here, Lelouch thought sourly, was the same cretin who opposed the Black Knights at every single twist and turn. To think that same "hero" – and Lelouch used the term very lightly – could not even fight off a single schoolyard bully. It bordered on the ridiculous.

"Suzaku...!" Lelouch began, frustrated.

"Oi," Klaus cut in. "You've got some nerve talkin' to me, Lamperouge! My girlfriend has a crush on you!"

_This guy has a girlfriend? _Lelouch was thoroughly shocked by this baffling new plot twist. On the outside, Lelouch kept up his calm, condescending smirk, of course.

He could feel the tension spiking the air. Lelouch had witnessed enough battles to be able to notice where this situation was headed. He glanced at Suzaku – the guy still seemed ill at ease.

Only thing to do now was to land the first strike. Any tactician worth his salt knew about that.

"Lelouch... _what are you doing?_" Suzaku demanded.

"Protecting you, of course!" Lelouch snapped as he slapped Klaus once more. Klaus seemed more stunned at being slapped by a boy than furious at the moment.

Finally, the bully found his voice. "You total sissy! That didn't even sting!"

Normally, boys liked to say that sort of thing to taunt their foes, but Lelouch strongly suspected that Klaus was actually telling the truth. His incredulous tone of voice suggested so.

_So now what will you do, Suzaku? _Lelouch thought. This was a careful manipulation of the situation. The only thing Suzaku could do now was acknowledge the bullying happened for his friend's sake. The way to do that was to join in the fight. Then Klaus would reveal what he had done, just as a bully was wont to do.

Lelouch smirked.

Suddenly, Lelouch felt someone behind him grab his arm and drag him backward.

"Thank you," Suzaku whispered into his ear, "but you don't need to do this."

Lelouch was left gasping. _Suzaku...! You... You've changed!_

Choosing to ignore Lelouch for the moment, Suzaku turned to Klaus: "I don't care if you have a grudge against me, but if you try to hurt my friends, I can't forgive you. If you wrote that note threatening to kill Princess Euphemia..."

"Huh?" said Klaus stupidly. "I didn't do it!"

Lelouch stood up straight and stared at Klaus directly in the eye. "You'll tell us if you have or haven't!"

Suddenly, Klaus's eyes began to gleam and his shoulders eased back. The boy responded slowly, mechanically:

"I did not do it."

What was this? Lelouch was shaken. Klaus was acting as if he had been Geassed! Or was this just some trick of his?

"Are you sure?" Suzaku asked, but Klaus did not say anything.

"What do you know about the note?" Lelouch pressed him, and this time, Klaus chose to respond, again in that eerie, mechanical sort of way.

"I know nothing about the note's contents or its author."

"Do we believe him?" Suzaku whispered to Lelouch, who was still staring at Klaus as if trying to figure him out.

"Y-Yes," Lelouch answered a bit shakily after a pause. "He's telling the truth."

Suzaku looked at him for a moment. "If you say so," he said finally. Suzaku always trusted Lelouch's word.

Lelouch tried to _think –_ there was something to be learned from this – but his train of thought was interrupted by Shirley's voice.

"Huh? What's going on here? You guys...?"

Lelouch looked up. A bemused Shirley was standing by the edge of the now dispersing crowd, and Kallen and Nina stood beside her. Nina looked on timidly behind her glasses while Kallen had no expression on her face in particular. Something clicked the moment Lelouch saw Kallen's face.

"Suzaku, give me that note," Lelouch hissed.

"Uh, sure."

Lelouch unfolded the note and read through it again.

_Of course!_

The note was written through a Japanese point of view. It had labelled Suzaku a traitor and then criticised his methods. Only a Japanese person would have the desire to criticise Suzaku on those grounds. A Britannian would only have cared about the end result because Suzaku was not really one of them, in spite of being an Honorary Britannian on paper.

"That note again?" Shirley said and frowned. "Here, Nina, maybe you should see it too..."

As Shirley pulled Nina closer to Lelouch, Kallen drew near as well. At that moment, Kallen's eyes fell upon the note. It was the first time she noticed it was handwritten and -

-she gasped. Too loudly, too _shocked _to be anything but -

"That's Naoto's-!"

Unaware of her own outburst until the name left her lips, Kallen put a hand to her mouth, horrified. Then she turned and hurried away.

It wasn't until that precise moment did all the subtle signs surrounding this particular case come together for Lelouch. He was left with one thought pulsating through his mind:

"_This is much more complex than I'd originally assumed."_**

* * *

**

**Next chapter: **How is Kallen's brother related to Suzaku's note? Isn't Naoto dead? Assuming Zero's persona now, Lelouch attempts to find the answers.


	3. Stage 03

**Author's note: **Dude. Totally forgot this fic existed. … Oopsies?

* * *

_She could hear his voice sometimes – Naoto's voice. It had always been comforting and soothing, yet it always had that strength which befitted a leader. She could see his face sometimes too. It was burned into her memory, the image of a handsome young man whose eyes shone with purpose._

_The imprint of his actions and deeds, however... They were not seen or heard sometimes but always. Because there was a man named Zero and he lived out Naoto's dream._

**Stage 03 Unresolved Dispute****  
**

That afternoon, when it was clear that Kallen was not going to return to school, Lelouch decided to ring her cell phone. She did not pick up.

"What now?" Suzaku asked him.

Lelouch paused. "We go to her house, of course."

They approached Milly because she knew all the details about Ashford Academy students. Even though the student council president was up to her neck organising everything for the upcoming school festival, she was happy to answer Lelouch's questions about Kallen's living residence.

"Oh, and try to be sensitive, you two," Milly warned them. "Kallen's got a bit of a complicated family situation."

Try as Lelouch might, he could not get Milly to clarify on what exactly this complicated family situation was. Milly was the type who knew people's secrets but didn't spill them. She knew about Lelouch being a prince of Britannia and he was confident that this information would never leave her lips. As for Kallen, Lelouch suspected that her secret was that she was half-Japanese. In that case, the only thing that Lelouch needed to be wary of was that as _Lelouch Lamperouge _he did not know that fact.

Kallen's house was posh and grand and when Lelouch knocked upon her door, he half-suspected he would not be allowed in. When a maid opened the door for him and Suzaku, Lelouch explained that they were Kallen's school friends and fortunately, that was enough to admit the two of them entrance.

"Hmph," snorted a heavily made-up woman as they walked in. "_Boys_. Kallen's in her room."

That had to Kallen's stepmother. "Thank you," said Lelouch, smiling his model student smile. "Come, Suzaku."

"Er, right." The two of them started to follow the maid who led them down the passage. Suzaku spoke up. "Lelouch, I have to go to the army very soon, so let's not take too long."

"We won't," Lelouch said through gritted teeth.

They were now standing at the door of Kallen's room. Lelouch leaned forward to knock, yet all of a sudden, the door swung open on its own accord.

Kallen stood on the other side; she was still in her Ashford Academy uniform. Surprise was evident on her face when she caught sight of Lelouch. "What are you two doing here?" she spluttered.

"Visiting you," Lelouch answered smoothly. "You left school in a hurry before..."

"I came to get this," Kallen said. She lifted a hand that had been behind her back and showed Lelouch what she had been holding. "I just wanted to make certain of something."

She was holding a letter. "_Don't beg for things, do it yourself, or else you won't get anything_," Kallen read out slowly. "He wrote this to me... before he died. Naoto, I mean. My brother."

Lelouch and Suzaku exchanged glances. "Can I see the letter?" Lelouch asked quietly. Even though he wasn't very close to Kallen, she seemed a bit vulnerable right now, so maybe she would comply.

Kallen passed over the letter and Suzaku pulled out his own note. Lelouch compared the handwriting. Just as he thought. Although Lelouch was no expert on handwriting, both writings seemed identical to him. Kallen must have noticed this because... Lelouch could very well imagine her reading Naoto's letter every night.

"We should get these checked out by an expert," he said.

At this point, Kallen visibly hesitated. She swallowed.

Before she could say anything, Suzaku said, "Lelouch, I think you should drop it. It's meaningless."

He knew. _He knew about Kallen's identity. _Why else would he have covered for her like this? Kallen's brother had been a freedom fighter. Lelouch looked at Suzaku's face and then at Kallen's before he sighed resignedly. There was only so much of the truth that Lelouch Lamperouge could discover.

* * *

Ever since the Battle for Kyushu, public approval for the Black Knights had risen considerably. With the rise to attention came busier days for the leader Zero. Although fighting-wise, his campaign had taken on a recent lull, there was still plenty for Zero to focus on. Diethard always seemed to have something to report and there were always ways for Rakshata to improve the Knightmare Frame specs. Not to mention mapping out the next strategy to take Britannia off guard.

Oddly enough, the only person who didn't seem to have anything in particular to do was Ougi. He walked around deep in thought as if he had something pressing on his mind but spoke of his thoughts to no one. When Lelouch encountered him in the hallway, he was not so concerned with whatever was bothering Ougi but rather with the whole Naoto thing.

And then an interesting thought occurred to him.

He summoned Ougi to his quarters, a sure indication of a private discussion. Well, it _would _have been private if C.C. was not nonchalantly squeezing Cheeze-kun in the corner and gazing at Lelouch with a bored expression on her face. He decided to ignore her for the moment.

"Tell me," he said to Ougi, "why you became a resistance fighter."

Ougi blinked, evidently not expecting a conversation along these lines. "Because of a friend of mine," he said finally.

"Naoto Kouzuki, huh?"

Ougi blinked again. "Yeah."

There was a pause of silence.

Lelouch crossed his arms imperiously.

Ougi decided to say more. "I respected him a lot."

Lelouch noted something then. A glimmer of sadness in Ougi's eyes – this was a person who had lived his entire life under a shadow, to the extent that he found it difficult to live without it. He must have truly been fond of this Naoto.

Carefully, Lelouch stored this information away into a corner of his brain in case he needed to use it later.

"So how did he die?" Lelouch asked bluntly.

Ougi flinched. Then he bowed his head and clenched his hands against each other on his lap.

"I… I don't know."

"What?" Lelouch frowned. Now this was getting interesting. "What do you mean?"

"That week before the Shinjuku incident was the last time I saw him. Thanks to him, we got our hands on the poisonous gas." Ougi sighed. "But he never returned from that mission."

"So you never saw how he died…"

Ougi nodded.

Lelouch thought about that. Then he said, "All right, you're dismissed."

Once Ougi had finished shuffling from the room, C.C. spoke up. Lelouch had forgotten she had been listening in on the conversation.

"So why the sudden interest in dead men?"

"It's got nothing to do with you," Lelouch said.

C.C. accepted that with a disinterested nod, therefore Lelouch ended up confiding everything to her anyway.

"Well," said C.C. when Lelouch was finished. "That does sound strange, I suppose."

Lelouch thought for a moment, and then said, "It might have something to do with Geass."

"Oh?" C.C. sat up straighter now. "What makes you think that?" She was eying him that way she always did whenever she thought he was being mildly entertaining – which seemed to be all the time to her.

"Ghosts can't write letters," Lelouch replied. "Is there some way to communicate to the dead through Geass, I wonder?"

_Oh, boy, Marianne, quite a son you've got there, _C.C. thought ironically.

She said to Lelouch, "So what would you think if you didn't know about Geass, hm?"

He frowned. "What are you getting at?"

"There's a scientific explanation for everything," C.C. said. "Isn't that how smart little boys like you are meant to think?" Lelouch's nose wrinkled at the 'smart little boys' part. "You're not the religious type, either."

"Are you saying this isn't something that could be explained through Geass?"

C.C. shrugged. "I didn't say one thing or another." She flopped back on the bed. "You're becoming over-reliant on Geass, that's all."

Lelouch scowled. "You're becoming over-reliant on pizza," he pointed out.

"Touche."

* * *

When Suzaku returned to the army, he found Lloyd and Cecile waiting for him with the Lancelot. The two of them had been away earlier that day at a meeting concerning the recent upgrades on said Knightmare Frame, so Suzaku was pleasantly surprised to see them now.

"Oh, hello, Suzaku!" Cecile called out to him sweetly when she saw him. "How was school?"

Suzaku thought about the note, and then the Klaus incident. He inwardly winced. He said to Cecile, "I had a great day."

"That's good!" Cecile replied with a motherly smile. Then she seemed to remember something and became thoughtful. "Oh, that reminds me. I saw Her Highness Princess Euphemia in the government offices. She said she was waiting for you."

Lloyd spun a wrench in his hands as he interjected. "Suzaku, Suzaku, wherefore art thou, Suzaku?"

Suzaku blushed.

"So she's still okay, then?" he asked anxiously.

"Hasn't she always been?" Cecile said, smiling.

"A-Ah, yeah…"

Lloyd snickered. Cecile threw him an annoyed glare.

By the time she turned back to Suzaku, her motherly smile had reemerged. "You can go see her now, you know," she said in a confidential whisper. "We'll cover for you."

"Thank you!" Suzaku exclaimed. He turned to leave. "I'll be sure to return the favour!"

When he was gone, Cecile remarked aloud, "He's such a sweet boy."

Lloyd personally thought that Suzaku was fascinatingly naïve for someone who was a soldier. Aloud, though, he conceded, "He is sweeter than your cooking."

Cecile elbowed him in the ribs.

* * *

"Suzaku!" Princess Euphemia stood up and waved cheerfully. "You're here!"

"Euphie, were you waiting for me this whole time?"

Euphie nodded. "Did you get your homework done?"

(No, Suzaku thought.)

He smiled sheepishly in response. At any rate, he was glad to see that Euphie was safe.

_Why wouldn't she be? The note said the day after tomorrow…_

He gulped. Put that out of your mind, he thought firmly.

"Come on," he said to Euphie, and held out a gentlemanly arm for her to take. "Let's go."

* * *

"_Don't beg for things, do it yourself, or else you won't get anything_."

Naoto's handwriting had always been as bold and clear as his personality had been. Not for the first time, Kallen found herself staring at the only letter of his that she had now. Not long after Naoto's death, the maid (_her mother_) had cleaned her room and discarded all of his belongings, probably under her stepmother's instructions. And why not? Naoto had been too much like their father. Too much like the sort of man who could sweep a person off their feet, man or woman, because he was just that single-mindedly compelling.

He was _not _the sort of person who would write threatening letters to anyone, Kallen knew. How could Lelouch and Suzaku assume that…?

The handwriting. It was because of the handwriting. Kallen looked back on the letter in her hands and frowned. How could Naoto write something if he was dead, anyway? It all made her head spin.

It was some sort of mistake. She would confirm it on the morrow.

* * *

"Euphie."

"Yes, Suzaku?"

They were sitting on a park bench together. Afternoon was beginning to melt into evening and this was their last opportunity for them to talk before they returned to their respective duties.

Suzaku fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't know how to say this."

"Start from the beginning, maybe?" Euphie suggested kindly.

Suzaku thought about the note.

"Just…" he said finally. "These are dangerous times. If you notice something strange, or if there's something bothering you, you should tell me. I'm your knight, after all."

"All right…" Euphie said slowly. She was slightly disappointed, as if she expected to hear something different from him. "Has something been bothering _you _lately?"

Suzaku hesitated. He didn't want to upset her about the threats he had received. He decided to settle on a half-truth. "I've been thinking about you a lot, so..."

"Oh, really?" Euphie's face lit up. "That's so romantic, Suzaku!"

"Huh?"

"Oh," said Euphie. "Never mind."

Suddenly, Suzaku felt the atmosphere between them become awkward. Euphie stood up and smoothed over her dress with her hands.

"I guess I'd better go," she sighed. "I'll keep in mind what you said to me, okay?"

He nodded and waved to her, smiling.

That same night, Euphie encountered the ghost.

* * *

**Author's note: **You might have seen what I did thar with Naoto's note to Kallen. Honestly, this is probably the lightest writing project I've ever had. Don't judge me, okay?

**Next chapter: **...So what was the truth of what went on in Shinjuku that day?


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